Port Washington grows new community garden for the hungry

Driving down Manorhaven Boulevard in Port Washington, one would never know the potential taking seed behind the hamlet’s Adult Activity Center — or the promise it holds. The unassuming red-brick building obstructs a blank canvas that could very well become a life-changing endeavor, dreamed up by a “chief vegetable garden executive.”

Marvin Makofsky, 78, already responsible for organizing the donation and distribution of thousands of pounds of fresh produce in his hometown, gave himself that tongue-in-cheek moniker years ago when he began addressing hunger there.

His latest effort involves brokering a far-reaching collaboration that unites the Town of North Hempstead, The Home Depot, Scotts Miracle-Gro, local high school students and a church outreach center — all of which share a common goal: to use the property to grow food for those in need.

The initiative was born in December when Makofsky approached North Hempstead Town Council Member Mariann Dalimonte to request the use of the town-owned land. “I loved the idea,” Dalimonte said. A meeting was arranged with the Parks & Recreation Department, and the town board passed a resolution that was approved March 10.

Tentatively named the Plant A Row for the Hungry Community Garden, the property has been maintained by the parks department, which cuts the grass, Dalimonte said, but it is not in use.

Grassroots effort

For years, Makofsky, a self-employed sales executive and business-product developer, has been working tirelessly to give his food-insecure neighbors access to peppers, tomatoes, corn, beans, squash and other fresh produce to supplement the canned goods and processed foods typically available at food pantries.

The holder of 11 patents, Makofsky, who has been recognized with more than 100 national and international design awards, has spent his career identifying and solving problems with his inventions. Hunger in his community was another problem that needed a solution, he said, and he was up for the challenge.

Makofsky sprang into action in 2010 after “hearing over and over about food deserts and underserved communities on food stamps facing $4 tomatoes,” he said. “I knew Port Washington was a very socially and civically involved community, so I decided to take a crack at it.”

His solution? Launching the hamlet’s grassroots Plant A Row for the Hungry program, which encourages residents to donate homegrown produce to be distributed to those in need.

The logistics were mind-boggling. Decisions had to be made about how to spread the word throughout the community, collect food, store donations, and transport and distribute them.

As he worked out the details, Makofsky partnered with the Bayles Garden Center, which lends its storage and refrigeration facilities to the cause and serves as a drop-off point where residents can bring homegrown produce. From there, the fruits, vegetables and herbs are retrieved by a team of rotating volunteers and delivered to Our Lady of Fatima Church’s outreach center, which distributes them.

Gathering volunteers

In 2014, after learning about a Hartford, Connecticut, program that pays residents who are homeless to care for vegetables growing in artfully painted pots throughout the city, Makofsky was inspired to organize volunteers to grow produce in planters in downtown Port Washington. So he asked The Art Guild to paint a sample planter, which he presented to business owners at a Chamber of Commerce meeting. “I got 15 orders for painted pots that night, and then people started to volunteer to paint them,” he said.

Before long, Makofsky had enlisted students from Paul D. Schreiber Senior High School and the Helen Keller National Center to design and paint the 24-inch pots; then he recruited community members and organizations to sow seeds of vegetables to plant in them. Today, more than 100 painted planters sit outside downtown stores, houses of worship, libraries and community centers.

Business owners make a $300 donation to “adopt” planters, then place them outside their doors, where signage informs passersby of the program and encourages their participation. The businesses also agree to help maintain the pots between visits from plant-care volunteers. Later in the season, produce is harvested by the volunteers and delivered to Bayles, where its employees log and store it in refrigerators along with produce donated by home gardeners.

From late spring through fall, volunteers collect the donations from the garden center and deliver them to the church. On average, each painted planter yields 10 to 20 pounds of produce, Makofsky said.

Over the years, Makofsky’s mission to feed the hungry has grown to include: more than 40 volunteers, including master gardeners from the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County; a greenhouse operated by The Navigators, a group of individuals with special needs at the Nicholas Center for Autism; schoolchildren in grades three to six who care for painted planters at Port Washington Children’s Center; senior citizens groups; high school students; and in-ground gardens at the Helen Keller Center, the Thomas Dodge Homestead and the Children’s Center.

'Very important work'

In addition to uniting the community and building partnerships with area organizations and businesses, Makofsky, who isn’t paid for his work, has hooked up irrigation systems, delivered supplies, provided growing instructions, and organized trainings, plantings and painting sessions around town. He formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation with tax-exempt status in 2016 and received grant funding from the Port Washington Community Chest, which offers financial support to nonprofit organizations in the hamlet.

On April 29 , Makofsky’s latest dream is set to became a reality when employees from the Home Depot in Westbury are scheduled to volunteer their time to construct 18 raised beds donated by the store behind the Adult Activity Center, then fill them with 47,000 pounds of soil contributed by Scotts Miracle-Gro.

“Their enthusiasm is off the charts doing this,” Makofsky said of the companies and their employees.

“We chose to work with Plant A Row this year because they are doing very important work providing our underprivileged communities with fresh produce during the growing season,” said Danielle Squires, manager of the Westbury Home Depot. “We wanted to be able to help them increase their output, and building 18 planters at the adult center will do just that.”

The project, Squires said, is part of The Home Depot Foundation’s April “National Volunteer Month” program, for which its employees volunteer to work with nonprofits around the country. The program is funded through grants from the foundation, she said.

Joe Bosco, New York metro-area district manager for Scotts Miracle-Gro, said a core part of the company’s mission is “Grow More Good,” so “partnering with someone like Marvin, who has so much passion to provide food for people in his community who don’t have money to buy it, was a no-brainer.” The company is “happy to help in any way we could,” he said. 

More volunteers will be needed to ensure the crops in the new garden are well cared for during the growing season.

“We will be interviewing residents, hopefully those who will be the recipients of the food, and we will make sure they have the tools to work with — all donated by Home Depot,” Makofsky said. “We will teach them what they need to know, although many actually already know what to do.”

“This idea of having the community grow their own food is something we have not done before,” Makofsky said, adding that to ensure the crops meet the needs of the mostly Hispanic members of the community served by Our Lady of Fatima’s outreach center, he asked for their input. “We want to know what they would like on their plates. They should get to decide.”

Makofsky, who estimated that “a few thousand pounds of food” can be grown this summer on the 20-by-65-foot property, said, “all of it will be delivered diagonally across the street to Our Lady of Fatima, and Sister will distribute the food.”

Generous community

“Sister” is Sister Kathy Somerville, Order of Preachers, the Dominican nun who has been running the church’s outreach center for 40 years. The donated produce, she said, “is a much-needed addition” to the center’s offerings.

“In the beginning, we only provided canned food,” she said. “Fresh fruits and vegetables were more of a luxury” for the 140 families who receive food through the program.

“I have never seen anyone as passionate about anything as Marvin is,” Somerville said. “You can’t say no to him because if you say no, he’s just going to come back at you,” she added with a chuckle.

Not that she ever tried, she admitted.

“I think what makes Marvin’s job easier — and my job easier — is that the Port Washington community is just so generous. We couldn’t do here what we do if it weren’t for the community,” Somerville said. “The amount he has accomplished in getting people involved is just incredible.”

Councilwoman Dalimonte concurred. “I am so honored and touched that Marvin asked me to help him with this project because he’s a wonderful person and he cares so much about the community,” she said. “Marv is what gets us all together.”

Now that the property behind the Adult Activity Center has a purpose, Dalimonte said, “my hope is that anyone who needs food will have it and that this brings more awareness that there are people all over who are hungry.”

Makofsky shares those hopes — and then some.

“I want the programs also to help the Nicholas Center Navigators, the students at the high school and at the Helen Keller Center, and all the other garden volunteers. When you do for others, you do for yourself, and then you improve your own self-esteem,” he said. “I want this to help everyone.”

“We all say it takes a village,” Dalimonte said. “And the head of our village for this is Marv.”

How to get involved

Each year, GardenComm (formerly Garden Writers of America), asks its members — garden writers, newspaper columnists, authors, bloggers and other influencers — to encourage their readers and followers to plant one extra row of food crops in their gardens for those in need.

“There are over 84 million households with a yard or garden in the U.S. If every gardener plants one extra row of vegetables and donates their surplus to local food agencies and soup kitchens, a significant impact can be made on reducing hunger,” the GardenComm website explains.

Since 1995, more than 20 million pounds of fresh produce, providing some 80 million meals, have been donated by home gardeners though its national Plant a Row for the Hungry campaign. “All of this has been achieved without government subsidy or bureaucratic red tape — just people helping people,” the organization states.

To participate, plant an extra row or container (or just one additional plant) and donate its harvest to your local food bank, house of worship or informally to a neighbor who could use it.

If you’d like to help even more, consider starting your own Plant a Row campaign with friends, neighbors or co-workers. If you need help getting started or finding a local drop-off site, visit gardencomm.org/PAR.

Community garden reading list 

“Start a Community Food Garden: The essential handbook,” by LaManda Joy (Timber Press, 24.95)

Interested in starting your own community food garden? This detailed guide, written by the founder and executive director of Peterson Garden Project, which manages seven Chicago community gardens, walks you through every step of the process, from fundraising, community organizing, site sourcing, garden design and tending the garden year-round to how to find and coordinate volunteers.

“Tiny Space Gardening,” by Amy Pennington (Sasquatch Books, $22.95)

If you’re short on space, this guide will show you how to grow a harvest that’s bountiful enough to share. Learn which plants grow best outdoors in containers or even indoors on windowsills and countertops, and the best ways to care for them. Thirty recipes are included to help you enjoy the fruits of your labor.

“The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible,” by Edward C. Smith (Storey Publishing, $24.95)

The second edition of this classic is every bit as relevant today as it was when it was released in 2009. The author’s high-yield garden system, perfect for beginner green thumbs as well as experienced gardeners, is conveyed with a catchy acronym, WORD: Wide rows, Organic methods, Raised beds, Deep soil. In addition to specific growing advice for just about any vegetable, step-by-step photos illustrate how to maximize your harvest.